


A New King

by mansikka



Series: Where You Can't Follow [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Downworlder Politics, Fluff, Future, Leadership, M/M, Minor Character Death, POV Alec Lightwood, Royalty, Seelie Court
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:57:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22390450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mansikka/pseuds/mansikka
Summary: Five years since Alec and Magnus married, they have adjusted to a life split between New York and the Seelie Court. When Alec learns news that will bring yet more changes to his world, Magnus is right there with him, ready to face what is to come head on. Though surely first, there is time for a little... frivolity?
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Where You Can't Follow [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1606555
Comments: 22
Kudos: 96
Collections: SHBingo





	A New King

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is for the bingo square _Seelie drinking games_. It is a timestamp for Where You Can't Follow; you can probably read it as a standalone but will make much more sense if you read that one first. Happy reading!

Alec hears the news on the early morning breeze, sensing the excitement in the chattering of the birds, bees, and bugs all around him in the forest that has for five years been his home. A part of it anyway; Alec still wakes in the same familiar gold sheets in the same loft apartment with a balcony overlooking New York, with Magnus sprawled across him or fast asleep on his pillow, when he isn't using Alec as one. Though the arch by the apartment door that he and Magnus effectively _grew_ together, with its coiling, twisting vines forming a doorway, daily changing flowers to suit Alec's mood; this is what truly takes him home. Alec steps through it almost every morning before the city stirs, comforted immediately for the soft forest floor underfoot. When he takes his first full breath of the day, the air there always tastes of welcome.

Every sense of every being in the forest is currently heightened, allowing Alec to gather information to him with no effort at all. He listens to the beat of wings and the race of hearts from the comfort of his chair woven from leaf, vine, and willow, sucking in another lungful of air in preparation. The air is a purifier to his thoughts, a steadying source of regularity no matter the chaos of his days. Between the forest air, and _Magnus_, Alec's inner turmoil has long lost its ability to latch on to him long enough to take hold; even with a turn of events like _this_.

"Is it true?" Magnus asks as he joins him, draping his arms over Alec's shoulders and bending so he can kiss Alec on the cheek. Their telepathy has morphed into images and feelings in place of words; Alec's thoughts must have roused him from his slumber calling Magnus to stumble through their apartment arch in his sleepy, half-dressed, though still beautiful state.

As he toys with the rich blue silk of Magnus' robe, Alec listens to the frenzy building in the forest, the crack and hush and crunch of its floor under hundreds of pairs of approaching feet. His people. His _subjects_. Looking for confirmation and guidance, questions already forming in their thoughts before Alec can hear them from their mouths.

"Yes," Alec says, watching sunlight trickle into his forest glade to accompany those footsteps. Today is one of change. He knows excitement, elation, yet also a sense of peace; even for knowing what is to come. "The Seelie Queen is dead."

* * *

Five years earlier, the treaty between the Unseelie King and the Clave had, unexpectedly for all involved, been a smooth and swift affair in which everyone was in agreement. Contrary to the Seelie Queen's insinuations, the Unseelie King had no interest in regaining control of the Seelie Court for himself. His influence already touched each of the Fey worlds; why would he feel the need His attempts to reclaim the Seelie Court—which had lead to Alec being erased from the world by the Seelie Queen's callous hand—was an effort solely to oust the Queen from her throne. For too long, the Unseelie King had been displeased with her unruly rule, her fickle favoring of those who would serve her best only to then be discarded at whim.

Her attempts to gain greater authority over all Downworlders, her cruel treatment of the Seelies in her court for any wrongdoing, her unwavering, bloated sense of self-importance; the Unseelie King grew livid in the shadows watching until he could keep his silence no more. Even the Seelie Queen's attempts to thwart him through deception that brought instability to the Shadow World were typically egotistical and narcissistic. That she never once showed remorse or asked for forgiveness for what she did, both to the world around him and to Alec himself, hardened Alec's heart against her, making his verdict at her _trial_ an easy one.

The Unseelie King called for that trial on the first day of the treaty, revealing the depths of the Seelie Queen's crimes to a fuller extent than anyone had been aware. The Unseelie King, painted villain, brute, and hellion by the Seelie Queen's tongue while in asylum in Idris, was revealed instead to be a peaceful, noble individual with a wicked sense of humor and an unshiftable understanding of their laws. All laws; even Magnus had been quietly impressed by the Unseelie King's knowledge and interpretation of the Accords, finding loopholes in them that Alec found Magnus puzzling and muttering over in disbelief for missing himself even months later.

The trial called for the Seelie Queen to be brought to justice, citing evidence of her cruelty through detailing just two of her crimes: the systematic execution of Seelies who dared to disobey her while living beyond the court, done silently in the belief that nobody would notice; and her manipulation of Alec, and Alec's memory, and in turn the manipulations of everyone that almost led to a war.

Alec, as both first-hand witness and physical evidence of the latter, with Seelie magic coursing through him against his will, had been a vital component of the justice to be served. Of course the Seelie Queen attempted to change tactics, putting blame for all that happened on anyone but herself. The Unseelie King's request that he be allowed to administer her punishment in the Fey realms was granted, on Alec's word.

The world had shifted then for Alec. The Unseelie King _liked_ him, liked everything he had come to know about _Alec Lightwood_, insisting if anyone would fairly rule the Seelie Court in the Queen's absence, it would be him. Alec hadn't really thought to resist, the opportunity to broker an alliance between the Seelies and the rest of the Shadow World too vital in his being to ignore. That, and the call to be _home_ in the Seelie forest, which he couldn't deny he felt. Less than three days after the Unseelie King arrived in Idris, he was leaving again with the Seelie Queen in tow to serve her punishment, and Alec was heading back to the Seelie forest as its temporary ruler.

It is a surprise, really, Alec thinks as he waits for his people to gather, that the Seelie Queen gave in so soon. Her punishment was a Seelie prison, one which trapped her with the truth of her own wrongdoings and misrule. The sooner she could admit she was guilty of her crimes, the sooner the vines binding her would unravel, allowing her to live a life of repent. Alec had expected she'd still be trapped there for decades, but instead she had grown impatient, tried to trick the vines by announcing sorrow for her actions. The vines, as all of nature would, knew of her deception, slowly suffocating her until the Seelie Queen could tell her falsehoods no more.

Alec knows even before the Unseelie King announces it, that _he_ will continue to rule. He can already feel the shift in his blood that speaks of regality, and power. Alec knows without having to ask, that it is the Seelie Queen's power, which has shifted into him siphoned by the little she had once given Alec in her attempts to control. It is a heady feeling. Even before it, Alec could already communicate with creatures he'd never even known existed, and could, with a single thought, summon objects to him at whim. This _new_ power he feels tickling beneath his skin bristling with potential. It is a drawing sensation setting over his palms like it once had done, when fighting his way out of that dimension _she _had trapped him in.

"Well. I think this is my cue to at least be _clothed_," Magnus says with a kiss to the back of Alec's ear as they remain unmoving watching the Seelies continue to approach.

Alec smiles for his words, tangling a hand through Magnus' at his shoulder before quickly standing to face him, running a hand down his bare chest before tugging on Magnus' robe and claiming a kiss. "You'll only distract them if you don't," he teases with a lingering glance over his skin and a wink that is a promise for later when they are alone. Which might be hours from now, or even days; at this point Alec isn't sure.

To the surprise of them both, when Alec rests his hand on Magnus' shoulder pondering what clothes they might have to wear for the Seelie Queen's funeral, he changes both their outfits into Seelie garbs with only his thoughts. Green and black in color, and intricately embellished with beads, feathers, and ribbons—much like the formal wear Alec has for certain official things he attends within the Fey realms—Magnus of course makes the clothes seem even more stylish. Alec laughs as they inspect each other's outfits, thinking Magnus currently looks like he would be more at home on a Mundane fashion catwalk showcasing one of those Fall collections Izzy always raves about.

"Oh. Thank you, Alexander," Magnus says as he tugs at a button on Alec's shirt, snapping his fingers to fix his hair and makeup before fully satisfied with his own appearance.

"You're welcome, I think?"

"Your king approaches," Magnus says then with his own wink of tease gesturing over Alec's shoulder. Alec could already feel the Unseelie King's approach before Magnus' words though doesn't feel the need to stand on ceremony or be anything but himself.

"My _king's_ right here," Alec whispers squeezing Magnus' hands before kissing him, then turning them together to face the Unseelie King. They watch as he mounts the steps carved into the ground leading to Alec's clearing in the forest, his greeting for them both already in Alec's thoughts before he says a word.

Behind them is a large archway that leads to his and Magnus' private quarters, with walls grown from wicker, vine, and twig all around, and enhanced with Magnus' magic to give them privacy. Here, they can truly be alone in the forest when Alec's duties won't allow him to return to their New York apartment. Though their _quarters_ have no ceilings; when in the Seelie forest Alec needs the open space of a starry sky overhead, clever wards shielding them from it when it rains.

This part of the clearing where they greet the Unseelie King, however, is a public space. It is a wide platform with flowers growing around its edges form an intricate pattern with those covering its floor, as well as the chair on which Alec hears his subjects. Two chairs, really, symbolic in gesture since Magnus doesn't have the authority to _hear_ though often sits to keep him company. This platform is also where meetings are held, and where Alec addresses those of the Seelie Court from. The flowers and leaves entwined across and around the platform grow and change color with each step the Unseelie King takes, showing his authority in the forest all around them.

Alec has easily six inches on the Unseelie King in height, though his shoulders are nowhere near as broad. The Unseelie King's hair is long, and wiry, almost as though it is woven through with leaves from the forest which creep in to join his beard. His eyes are bright green, and his features ruddy, his clothes a pale green draping that is tied at the waist. The Unseelie King is also always barefoot, with twisted vines twined around his limbs as decoration more than protection.

"The sun is barely risen," Alec says in greeting, clasping the Unseelie King's extended hand and smiling for the mischief dancing in his eyes.

"And yet you are prepared," the Unseelie King replies, covering their joined hands with his other.

"There is much to know." Alec waves the waiting Seelies forward to bring their refreshments on a low woven wicker table, thanking them for it; a custom that the Seelies in the Court are still enchanted by after five years, for not once having been shown such courtesy by the Queen.

"You spoil them," the Unseelie King says as he watches the Seelies leave, with a smile of affection that Alec knows he has for all their people.

"I serve them," Alec retorts, because he takes his role as their _protector_ more seriously than any of his former roles. He could never have returned to ruling the New York Institute, nor taken any other position within the Clave. He might still have angel blood running through him which reacts with the Seelie power in him to activate some of his runes, though he has long ceased being a Shadowhunter. Alec belongs here, among his people, in a way he never has elsewhere. And though he is free to leave the Court whenever he chooses, sleeps in his and Magnus' apartment more often than anywhere else, and regularly takes vacations with Magnus continuing to explore the world by his side, the Seelie Court and its people are his responsibility. Alec will defend it, and them, against anything.

"Yes, you do," the Unseelie King agrees, with a look that Alec thinks is one of pride for him. Though his gaze then moves from Alec to Magnus, and Alec steps back to roll his eyes as the two of them bicker in greeting like two well-acquainted old friends. It is already an old joke between them, Alec walking behind Magnus with an absent kiss to his shoulder as he moves to gather the blankets and pillows the Unseelie King prefers them to sit on while conducting any business. Though to his surprise, just as he'd summoned clothes just for thinking about them, Alec finds himself arranging those blankets and pillows around their table with nothing but a flare of his fingers.

"That's twice already today," Magnus says with quiet awe, grabbing Alec's hand when he moves back to join them and running his thumb over his palm.

"Well. Between the new Seelie _King_, and the High Warlock of New York, I am breaking my fast in some exalted company this day," the Unseelie King teases, gesturing for them all to sit. Magnus was reinstated to his rightful position of High Warlock after they had returned from their honeymoon, Lorenzo Rey disappearing and no one hearing from him since.

"Is that what Alec is now?" Magnus asks as they begin to eat. "King of the Seelie Court?"

"Well. Not formally until after the ceremony."

They listen as the Unseelie King explains. With the death of the Seelie Queen there must first be a funeral to witness her passing, and then an immediately following ceremony to put in place the new monarch so the court is not long without rule. Which in this case is Alec, who internally bristles at the title he'll be given but knows better than to voice his distaste for it out loud. The Unseelie King is a fair and just ruler who likes Alec a lot, yet he is still old and otherworldy, demanding respect for certain Seelie traditions that Alec is glad he has centuries to get used to.

"Alec is free to call himself as he pleases," the Unseelie King says, his eyes crinkling to say he knows Alec's thoughts.

"Well. I'm partial to _Alec_."

"Whereas I am partial to Alexander Gideon Lightwood-_Bane_," Magnus replies, meaning Alec has to endure several minutes of their flirtatious teasing, pretending to turn all his focus on the food he is putting in his mouth. He is thankful when the conversation returns to one of the _events_ that will form the best part of a full day. Or as much of today as remains; tradition speaks of the funeral and new crowning of a ruler to take place within one rotation of the sun.

Thankfully, at least to Alec, there is little he needs to do to prepare. He and Magnus watch, taking their time to speak with Seelies about their former queen as well as other concerns as the forest glade is transformed. Flowers drape and fall from surrounding trees, paths marked out with petals that are resistant to the wind, food and other refreshments piled high on woven tables giving the place the feel of a party more than a funeral procession. Which is generally the Seelie way, celebrating a life lived rather than mourning one leaving the world; embracing the cycles of nature instead of resisting them to the bitter end. Which is part of what killed the Seelie Queen, Alec comes to know; that _resisting_. To think of the Queen being choked by the vines which once supported her makes Alec shudder, even if he has a healthy respect for the nature surrounding him that she had long forgotten.

The Seelie Queen's funeral passes quickly, with a procession and a pyre that is accompanied by dancing, and music, and other celebrations Alec is sure he would have once found distasteful; not that he will mourn the Queen's passing a moment longer than he has to. From the looks on the faces of the Court's occupants, and the clarity and hope in their hearts that he can feel, Alec doesn't see much _mourning_ for her passing from them either.

The procession gives way to a feast, and then more dancing, of which Alec has long stopped resisting being made a part of. Magnus is elated for it, sure-footed through each of the intricate Seelie steps. Alec too has mastered them though with none of Magnus' natural grace, thankful for his supporting arms whenever there are dips or turns involved. He still refuses to take part in Seelie songs, however, earning him raucous laughter from the Unseelie King, who then claps his hands to create himself a small stage from which he sings himself, much to Alec's mortification, even if the King has an incredible, powerful voice.

More dancing follows, and more songs, and feasting; more jovial than any passing Alec has ever attended in his life. Which is to be expected; Shadowhunters prefer pomp and solemn ceremony over anything. Alec wouldn't prefer that over this Seelie way either, sure there must be a happy medium in between.

"As soon as the sun sets, we will begin," the Unseelie King announces then, when there is a lull in the music giving all a moment to recover from their efforts.

"Alec becoming Seelie King?" Magnus asks, forever by Alec's side.

"Oh, no." The Unseelie King slaps his thigh, tutting and muttering as though he has forgotten something. He flares his hand producing a crown woven from leaves and flowers, which he gestures for Alec to duck for then places on his head. The moment Alec straightens he feels the entire forest cheering for him, made formal only by the Unseelie King then adding in a booming, carrying voice, "your new King."

Never has Alec felt so _accepted_. Not by a group of people or those under his command, or even by the Clave he used to represent. Here, in the Seelie Court, the support and admiration of the Seelies is palpable in everything. The very air is jubilant in his presence, the only thing to outshine any of it being Magnus' love. He is brimming with pride for him, yelling just as loud and hard as the Seelies when a round of raucous applause starts up somewhere in the depths of the forest and ripples through to where they are standing. Alec draws on his strength for the few seconds he feels unsteady, claiming a kiss and taking Magnus' hand when he stands tall again.

"So, what is beginning at sunset?" Magnus asks when the excitement around them gives way to yet more drinking and dancing.

"Oh. The best part of all of this. The best part of any of these celebrations," the Unseelie King tells them with his cheeks a blushing red of merriment.

"And what's that?" Alec asks, cautious, because, for as much as he has grown used to Seelie ways, there is still much he doesn't know.

"Seelie drinking games," the Unseelie King says as though that should be obvious. Alec braces for a long night and a sore head in the morning, as well as whatever embarrassments these games may reveal. Magnus squeezes his hand, winks when Alec looks, gesturing for them to take another drink.

* * *

Alec doesn't know what he expected. Conversations with Jace about the _fun_ of Seelie games has put in his thoughts to imagine something cruel. Though the only suffering Alec has known in the last few hours is the ache in his ribs from laughing so hard. One more _trick_ of the Seelie Queen passed off as regular Seelie behavior, then. In Alec's time at the Seelie Court as its ruler, he has had to unlearn so many things he now knows not to be true. The Seelies can be manipulative, unpleasant in some of their thoughts and their ways. Though what Alec has come to understand is that Seelies really mean no harm; unless someone wrongs them first. Alec knows he cannot say as much of Shadowhunters.

These _drinking games _are silly, helping rid Alec of any of his inhibitions, leaving him free to burst into raucous laughter and be one of the first to try a new drink. So far, a cocktail tasting of coconut has had those partaking of it use their voices to mimic some of the animals living in the forest. Another drink that Magnus is convinced includes his favorite rum has had them dancing chaotically as though they are all entranced. The third drink had looked like nothing but water, yet it lead to the ability to impersonate others with alarming accuracy. Magnus still keeps breaking into fits of giggles from Meliorn impersonating _Jace _of all people, complete with swagger and confidence that made Alec almost believe he really wore runes. He also knew guilt as he watched for not contacting Jace for a couple of weeks, which he will rectify—just as soon as his new status of _Seelie King_ settles in.

This drink, though, this current one that he's nursing which tastes like mango and passionfruit juice, though with the texture of _milk_, this is the one that is causing the most hilarity. This _drink_ is giving the Seelies the opportunity to lie freely for the first time in their lives. They are _joyful_ with it, trying to outsmart each other with increasingly elaborate tales using none of the usual Seelie subterfuge. Some are even reveling in just calling out the most random of untruths, like the sky being a different color, or that werewolves are in fact were-rabbits, and other such nonsense things; excited just because they _can_.

"Have you any untruths to tell me?" Magnus asks, knocking his thigh against Alec's to get his attention.

"Other than where I've been hiding gifts for you, no. None."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you sure you don't have any for _me_?" Alec counters, even though the juice won't have anywhere near the same impact on Magnus as it is the Seelies—and him, of course. It is less of a novelty for Alec being able to freely lie, for having now five years of learning the art of truths within truths. His joy from this drink is mostly because of watching others enjoy the gift of _lying_ so much.

"Fine. There is nowhere I'd rather be, in this moment, than sat here in the Seelie Court watching my husband's _subjects _grow increasingly more inebriated."

Alec throws his head back and laughs for the staged seriousness on Magnus' face, pulling him closer with his arm around his shoulders and kissing his temple. "No. Me neither."

"And a vacation involving just the two of us and a beach somewhere, away from _trees_, is the thing furthest from my thoughts. I wouldn't want that at _all_," Magnus adds, with a flicker of real sadness interrupting his tease before he reins it back in. Magnus has grown to love the Seelie forest because of _Alec's_ love for it. He appreciates its beauty, and has discovered the joy of exploring the Fey realms to their very edges. Though when they vacation, Magnus likes to be as far away from _forests_ as he can. Alec understands his thinking right now; they _had_ been talking of a vacation that was already long overdue. Now that Alec is the Seelie King, does that mean a period of adjustment? New duties that he'll have to perform that will steal his time? There hasn't been a moment since the Unseelie King's arrival to discuss what being _Seelie King_ might require of him. Though to Alec's mind, nothing much should need to change, other than the formalizing of a title that he still doesn't want to say out loud.

"We'll go. Soon," Alec promises, even if right now he can't know for sure when.

"We will," Magnus agrees, stealing a kiss as he squeezes his thigh. They both have high profile positions so Magnus gets it, never resents a moment of Alec's time in the Seelie court. Though Alec still knows guilt for the times he has had to cancel plans because of his _work_. He tries to keep canceling to a minimum, preferring to work harder and for longer to fit everything in—which only leads to Magnus worrying about Alec wearing himself out. Something Alec can't dwell too much on thinking about for the next drink being pushed into their hands.

Magnus sips first, smacking his lips together and inspecting the glass as though looking for more. "Lemon. A little syrupy, though not too sweet. Try it," he urges, nudging Alec to drain his glass.

"What's this one for?" Alec asks the Unseelie King as he comes to sit by his side. The Unseelie King looks at the drink he is passed to inspect, smiling with mirth as he lifts the glass to look from underneath.

"This one is a _little_ revealing—for some."

"Meaning, what?" Alec asks, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. The Unseelie King goes to point in front of them but Alec is then struck with the sudden urge to kiss Magnus, _right now_. Which apparently Magnus is feeling also for the way he grabs at him, climbing into Alec's lap. They forget time, and everything, lost in one another for either minutes or days until the sounds of the forest drifts back to them.

For realizing where he is sat, Magnus' eyes grow startled, quickly clambering from Alec's lap and wiping his mouth with a rueful smile. It takes the fog of their kiss a little longer to lift for Alec but when it does all he hears is the Unseelie King laughing.

"The drink reveals who you most desire, and encourages you to act on it," he says in his most delighted, chirpy of tones, waving once again to get Alec to look in front of them. "I believe you have lost a few members of your Court to one another, Alec."

The Unseelie King is right. Several Seelies, who Alec has long thought harbored feelings for one another, have disappeared into the trees. Others look dazed as they too break from their kisses, and one pair Alec sees pull back, grab each other's hands, and charge off as though frightened they might change their minds if they don't leave right now.

Magnus looks around the forest clearing in front of them, which by lantern-light appears to dance and shimmer, his mouth curving up into a delighted smile. "Oh. But this is…"

"This could be _awful_," Alec finishes for him, imagining some of the horrors such a drink could reveal elsewhere. He thinks this must be similar to the _game_ Simon, Clary, and Jace succumbed to. This drink isn't one he'll suggest when any of them come to visit, that is for certain.

Another drink is passed around, this one appearing to make its drinkers produce bubbles that belch from their throats. Alec wants to be at least mildly disgusted by it but for watching how fascinated some of the Seelies are for it, he only observes and waits for it to pass, sharing a look and a thought with Magnus that echoes his dislike.

"We could eat some more," Magnus suggests when they are sure the last of the bubbles have subsided. Alec guesses it must be to rid them of the aftertaste of that drink, and readily agrees.

Other drinks are tried, some doing little more than making some even drunker, and one even sobering them up. Another gives them the giggles, while another still makes Alec think of the time he and Magnus went to Amsterdam when he'd eaten three slices of a cake that left him spaced out and mellow in a way he'd never felt before.

When he begins to grow tired, catching others around them also starting to yawn, Alec watches the Unseelie King speak to one of the Seelies serving, and another round of drinks appear. This one is ruby red, tasting of apple with a touch of spice. Nothing appears to be happening to any of them, though then the Unseelie King is standing, and a meandering line of Seelies begins to form stretching back through the trees. The King beckons the first one forward, gently take his hand. Alec is surprised to see a pinprick of light forming in the air by the King's side; much like the one that had revealed Alec and Magnus to one another when Alec had been trapped in that dimension long ago.

The pinprick of light grows and forms, becoming a landscape oval shape that pulses and flickers, until an image forms. Alec laughs in surprise when the image is of the Seelie holding the Unseelie King's hand, of when the Seelie was very young exploring the forest on the shoulders of their father.

"This one reveals our most cherished memories," Meliorn reveals appearing beside Alec then, when he has seen little of him all day.

Meliorn has become a confidante for Alec, a guard of sorts, even a guide into the Seelie world in his own way. Alec has grown to respect him, and trust him, and knows from Meliorn's thoughts those are mutual things. Which doesn't mean Meliorn still doesn't _mock_ him at times. Though Alec enjoys that as well, feeling grounded by his honesty in a way no other Seelie would dare have for him.

"Well. That could be interesting," Alec says, continuing to watch the image until it fades.

"Alec," Meliorn says then with a familiar formal Seelie clasp of his forearm and shoulder that Alec echoes. "It is my honour to follow."

"As it is my honor to lead," he replies, the once foreign phrasing of Seelie words now as second nature to him as his own.

Meliorn disappears then to take his place in the queue as Alec sits, Alec and Magnus the only ones who are unmoving; as _Seelie King_, he supposes he doesn't have to. Though he knows he and Magnus will be called forward to reveal their memories too. They only have the privilege of being seated while they wait their turn. And as they do, they watch weddings, and battles, births, and new discoveries in the forest, the tasting of favorite foods and the moments Seelies have fallen in love. One memory is even a recently-formed one of just that morning, of hearing the Seelie Queen was gone; the sight of which sent nervous then more confident laughter through the forest until the next Seelie was called forward. The memories are unexpected for some and exactly as imagined for others. It is a joyful kind of intrusion that no one seems reluctant to share. Though Alec is apprehensive when he and Magnus are called together to reveal theirs.

"Nothing too… _vigorous_, I hope," the Unseelie King teases as he takes Magnus' hand in his left, and Alec's in his right. There is a titter that ripples out through the Seelies watching, Alec sure their interest is more piqued to discover _their_ memory than anyone else's. He watches the oval the Unseelie King has created grow bigger, so that more are able to see.

What will be their favorite memory? Alec isn't sure; so many moments of his life with Magnus are favorites to him. From first dates, to first kisses, to sleepy mornings laid in bed together; any and every memory of Magnus is precious to him. Though tears begin to prick in his eyes for then worrying about the truth; is the entire Seelie Court about to witness the moment he and Magnus broke through that barrier that kept them apart for almost a year? He doesn't want either of them exposed in such a way, that memory one so painful that whenever either of them remembers it, it takes hours to put them back together for how broken it leaves them.

The oval flickers, an image of Alec and Magnus beginning to form. They are on their apartment balcony on a summer's evening, glasses of wine on the ledge behind them and the remainder of a meal on the table to the side. They are dancing together, unhurried and without flourish or finesse, stealing kisses in between the joyful smiles on their faces. They are _home_; together and uninterrupted, the first night after Alec broke free of the realm that had kept him prisoner for so long.

A hush falls over the forest as those present watch; Alec can feel how they feel, every affection and happiness for them, every wistful sigh from observers who hope one day to also know such love. Alec wants to tell them they won't, that his and Magnus' love is one of a lifetime. He would sound smug for it though would only be truthful. Seelies can't _lie_, after all.

When the spell is broken from watching their shared memory, more music begins to play. Alec follows when Magnus leads him to the center of their gathering to dance once again. Alec pulls him close, pouring all the love he feels into every one of his thoughts, showing Magnus image upon image of just how much he is loved. He thumbs away tears when they spill over Magnus' cheeks, and chokes back his own when Magnus shares the same. Once again the rest of the world drops away and it is Alec, and Magnus, and them alone.

After, the Unseelie King returns to his realm, the ceremony for Alec's new appointment now complete and the Seelie Queen in many ways long forgotten. The _gathering_ comes to an end. In their forest _quarters _secluded away from the rest of the Seelies, Alec and Magnus lie together breathless and sated, curled in one another's arms. Alec trails his fingers over Magnus' back relishing in the feel of him, accepting kisses whenever Magnus lifts his head. _I love you_ he hears, and says, repeated over and over; as though either one of them might forget.

"I thought Seelie drinking games would be much more… troublesome," Magnus yawns sometime later, pressing the words into Alec's skin.

"As did I," Alec agrees, more relieved than he can say that they weren't.

"I learned some things," Magnus adds with a mirth-filled smile. Alec leans up to claim a kiss, squeezing him closer.

"Yes. Me, too."

"And I think we still have many things to learn."

For Magnus holding up his hand, Alec knows to press their palms together, a pulse of energy surging from him to tickle against Magnus' own. There is a connection, a surge as the new vigor of the Seelie power in Alec's veins combines with Magnus' magic, giving Alec a new sense of knowledge of his husband that is deeper, more intimate than they have ever shared.

"I think you're right," Alec agrees as he turns them over, with renewed energy so he can show Magnus his love once again. Tomorrow they will return to their _duties_, and there may be several weeks ahead before that vacation they both want is even possible. But for now, they need think of nothing else. Only the love that they share here in the middle of the forest, under a canopy of stars.


End file.
